one thousand and one nights by hanan al shaykh

Burning with curiosity and utterly enamored by Shahrazad's art of storytelling, the king lets her live for just another day.Īwh Man. She spins a tale for him every night that leaves the king in suspense every morning. To put an end to the bloodbath, the vizier's eldest daughter, Shahrazad, a woman of great intelligence offers herself to Shahrayar. From the palace, a lifeless body is delivered to a heartbroken family everyday. The king takes a girl every night, only to have her killed at the break of dawn. King Shahrayar's wife's betrayal evokes a horrendous bloodshed. Want to read One Thousand and One Nights (A new re-imagining)? Buy it here.One thousand and one nights by Hanan Al-Shaykh is a mischievous, smutty yet brutal to the bone retelling of the Arabian Nights. Storytelling and feminism are at the core of these wonderful tales. I found this version on the bookshelves, and she read out a sentence from the foreword by Al-Shaykh, and we were sold:Īs a female Arab writer my real enchantment was the discovery that women in these forgotten ancient societies were far from passive and fearful they showed their strong will, intelligence and wit, all the time recognising that their behaviour was the second nature of the weak and the oppressed.ĭid this new reading live up to the tales I first read all those years ago? Absolutely. Well we have done it twice so for me that is a tradition! I mentioned that I wanted my own copy of One Thousand and One Nights, to take back to Dar, to be captivated all over again 25 years later. Back in Christmas 2017, my Mum and I were on our traditional trip of going to Foyles Charing Cross Rd and choosing our Christmas books. Why have I chosen this version out of the many versions of these tales?Īfter all One Thousand and One Nights doesn’t belong to one country, they are stories gathered from India, Persia and across the Arab empire. I don’t recall exactly whether I was eight or ten years old when I first heard the words Alf Layla Wa Layla (One Thousand and One Nights) but I do remember being utterly smitten. Of her first encounter with Alf Layla Wa Layla (One Thousand and One Nights), she says: These memorising stories have captivated me since I was a little girl, much like Hanan Al-Shaykh. To survive, his newest wife Shahrazad spins a web of tales each night, leaving the King in suspense, allowing her to stay alive for yet another day. Maddened by the discovery of his wife’s sexual orgies, the king vows to marry a virgin each night and kill her in the morning.

One Thousand One Nights are the never-ending stories told by Shahrazad under sentence of death to King Shahrayar.

One thousand and one nights by hanan al shaykh